Reconnecting People & Living Foods

Sugar-Free, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free GAPS “Cookies”

For me, one of the most difficult parts of being on a gut healing diet, like GAPS, is the lack of pastries being made in my home. I’ve been a baker for most of my life…I can’t just shut that off. Many of the GAPS recipes for nut flour breads or treats require many eggs to hold it together. With my new found allergy to eggs, it’s been difficult to use typical GAPS recipes. The egg-free recipes I have found on the web are flavorless and have a gritty texture. Some people can tolerate these because, well, it’s better than nothing! I totally disagree. Which is why I have perfected this recipe for GAPS/SCD cookies. They are so yummy and a bit addictive (so be careful not to over do it!). I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

2 Cups Fresh Winter Squash (Pumpkin, Kabocha, Butternut, etc)

1 Cup Organic Raw Nut Butter (Cashew, Walnut, Almond, etc)

1/3 Cup Fat (Lard, Duck Fat, Ghee, etc)

2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Unrefined Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 325. Remove seeds and skin of winter squash. Cut into cubes and pulse in a food processor until mostly pureed. Add nut butter, fat, cinnamon and salt. Process until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the side of the bowl a couple times to make sure it’s well incorporated. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of batter per cookie onto baking sheet and press down slightly. Batter will spread just a bit. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Turn oven off and let cool in oven. Remove from baking sheet and enjoy. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Makes about 3 dozen soft chewy cookies.

Occasionally, if I will be out of the house for a long period of time without cooler access, I will dry the cookies out a bit more to make a kind of shelf-stable product that I keep in my pocket! These cookies are baked for 10 minutes at 350 and then the oven is turned down to 250 for an additional hour. These will be a crunchy, but chewy cookie that keeps well at room temperature for a day or two. Just make sure to stay hydrated with bone broth or water with a bit of apple cider vinegar added when eating these dry cookies.

Roasted Beets with Fennel Recipe

Raw ingredients being tossed in coconut oil.

I love Autumn. Rhode Island in the Fall is all about Corn, Pumpkins and Apples. Somehow we’ve forgotten some of the more flavorful vegetables. Don’t get me wrong, I REALLY wish I could grill up an ear of heirloom corn, slather it in butter and totally devour it! I would pay for it. Grains are really inflammatory. So, someone like me, with autoimmune issues and chronic pain, should really stay away. When I started my real food healing journey I quickly noticed how my taste buds started to change. Foods that I really hated have now become some of my favorites. As much as I miss my old favorites, the new ones can be very exciting.

I used to hate beets. And fennel…tastes like black licorice (that’s not a good thing for me). I really didn’t think I would like it. But, we got some as part of our CSA with Freedom Food Farm and I needed to find something to do with it. First I grilled it. Not bad. I guess I don’t completely hate the taste. I really liked the soft texture when cooked. Sorta like onions, but with a nuttier flavor. I wanted to use it as a flavoring with something sweet. The best sweet vegetable in the Fall are beets. I’ve made this style of beets 3 times in the past 2 weeks and realized that I needed to share. The beets and fennel sorta get candied. The roasted fennel really gives the beets another dimension of flavor, that you’ve got to try. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

2 lbs Beets

1 bulb Fennel with or without leaves

1 large shallot (or 2-3 small)

1/2 head garlic

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil (melted)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Wash and peel beets. Slice beets in a large julienne style or a large dice.

Rinse fennel bulb and cut off the stems with leaves. Finely slice fennel bulb. Pull leaves off of stems and give them a rough chop. Discard stems.

Chop shallot and garlic into small pieces.

Toss all ingredients in a bowl until everything is covered with coconut oil.

Pour mixture into an 11×7 oven safe glass baking dish and cover with glass lid or foil. If you don’t have that size…use whatever is closest. It’s not an exact science!

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes, then give them a quick stir. Roast for an additional 30-45 minutes. Remove cover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until beets are tender.

Serves 4

I like to serve these with ground beef patties and a raw green salad. It’s also really good reheated in the toaster oven for a quick and easy lunch.

Mint Chocolate Pots De Creme

Chocolate. I had been craving chocolate anything for months. Doing a 30 day sugar detox felt great and detoxifying. It’s a great way to ring in the warm weather. But, now I am ready to splurge! Here is my recipe for chocolate mint pots de creme. I used fresh mint leaves from Absalona Greenhouse, and organic, pastured (soy-free) eggs from Freedom Food Farm. I have also used duck eggs from Pat’s Pastured in the past with great results. I use raw honey as a sweetener, as it is the easiest for most people to digest and does not spike the blood sugar. This is also dairy free! Coconut milk makes a great substitution for milk or cream. This decadent dessert is smooth and rich…I only needed a few spoonfuls to be satisfied.

Preparation Method:
1. Finely chop chocolate, place in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a saucepan, combine coconut milk and chopped mint leaves. Simmer (do not boil!) for about 10 minutes, or until the mint leaves have released their flavor. Strain out mint leaves.
3. Whisk eggs yolks in a bowl and add about a tablespoon of the hot coconut milk. Mix well. Slowly add remaining coconut milk to egg until fully incorporated.
4. Combine coconut milk/egg mixture with raw honey and sea salt back into the saucepan. Heat at low/medium heat (do not boil), stirring constantly until it forms a smooth custard and coats the back of a spoon (about 12 min). It should reach a final temperature of 175 degrees. Remove from heat.
5. Set a fine-mesh strainer (or cheesecloth) over the bowl of chopped chocolate. Pour the custard through the strainer to remove any lumps. Let the hot custard sit on top of the chocolate for about 5 minutes or so. You want the chocolate to get warm and melty before you mix them together.
6. After the 5 minutes is up, with a spatula, slowly and gently mix the two together. A slow mix is essential to a stable emulsion. Once you’ve got a smooth mixture, stir in the vanilla extract.
7. Pour custard into 2 oz ramekins or cups (I used espresso cups). Let come to room temperature and then cover with plastic wrap. Place pots de creme in the refrigerator to set-up for at least 4 hours. I find that 24 hours gives a richer texture.
8. When ready to serve, remove from fridge and let sit at room temp for about 10 minutes. Optionally top with whipped coconut cream and fresh mint leaves.
9. Enjoy!!

Ready to eat in cute espresso cups.

Coconut Flour Pancakes

We love pancakes. Really…who doesn’t love pancakes? I had been making sourdough pancakes when we wanted a special treat for breakfast…sometimes I just need a break from eggs. However, my body wasn’t loving the wheat as much as my taste buds do. Even though the wheat is fermented and much, much easier for my body to digest, my sinuses would still get inflamed from eating the wheat. So, gradually we have cut out all wheat. My sinuses are happier, but my mind and taste buds still crave fluffy cakes!

I found a Paleo coconut flour pancake recipe a few months back and thought they tasted bland and were dry, dense and didn’t have the fluffy texture my tongue was looking for. So, after 3 tweaks I finally got it right. The yogurt gives it the slight tartness that I love with buttermilk pancakes. Topped with a generous amount of butter and a little grade B maple syrup, these cakes are fluffy and tasty just like the Bisquick cakes I had as a child! (But, without the processed wheat, refined oils, additives and HFCS “pancake syrup”.)

Heat a cast iron skillet on medium-low heat. Once the cast iron is hot add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan. Once butter is melted, spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter on the hot pan, with a little space for spreading between cakes. Let cakes cook for 1-2 minutes. When the edges are slightly browned, flip cakes and cook an additional minute. Transfer to a warm plate while you cook the rest.

These cakes are even great when reheated in the toaster oven. I do it on 325 for about 3-4 minutes. I’ve also made them into blueberry pancakes. When you drop the batter on the hot pan, let the cake cook for about a minute and then gently place 4-5 blueberries in each cake. Flip when the edges start to brown. This will warm the blueberries, but not cook or dry them out. You can also add other fruit or flavorings. Next I’ll try banana/walnut.

Kombucha Tea Workshops

Join us Saturday June 15th at Providence Alternative Market and/or Sunday June 16th at Northwest Farmers Market for a workshop on how to brew kombucha tea at home.